Eliot School in Session Here Since 1676

Courtesy Digital Commonwealth

Jamaica Plain is home to the fourth-oldest school in the country.
The Eliot School was founded 329 years ago in 1676. Only Harvard,
Roxbury Latin and Boston Latin are older than the Eliot School. On Oct.
2, 1676, 38 “inhabitants of Jamaica or Pond Plain” got together and
pledged money, payable in corn, to support the school for 12 years. Now
called the Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts, the institution
thrives to this day, offering classes to children and adults days and
evenings, taught by highly skilled artists and crafts people.

Before
1676 was over, several residents gave land to fund the school. John
Ruggles gave the triangular piece of land in front of the Unitarian
Church where the Soldiers’ Monument stands. Hugh Thomas and his wife
Clement gave their house, orchard, lot and night pasture to the school
on the condition that the residents would take care of them as they got
older. Others also donated smaller pieces of land.

The most
significant donor was the Rev. John Eliot, for whom Eliot Street and
Eliot Hall are also named. The minister to the Indians here gave 75
acres of land to the school in 1689. He wrote that the proceeds were to
be used “for teaching and instructing of the children of that end of
town (together with such negroes or Indians as may or shall come to
said school)...”Eliot said the purpose of the school was “to remove the inconvenience of ignorance.”

The
Eliot School has been at four different locations. First, it was
located in two different buildings in the area where the Soldiers’
Monument is. Beginning in 1787, the school was at the corner of Centre
and Green Streets. In 1832, it moved to the building at 24 Eliot St.
next to the Unitarian Church where it is today. The West Roxbury School
Committee became a partner to the trustees. In 1840 it became a high
school, with the genders separated into different departments.

In
1855, the Girls’ Department, which was very popular, was moved to
Village Hall where the city parking lot is behind Blanchard’s. In 1858,
the Boys’ Department moved there, too, and the building at 24 Eliot St.
was leased to the town, which used it as a primary school. In 1868, the
Eliot High School moved to a new building on Elm Street on the site
currently occupied by the old Jamaica Plain High School building. When
the town of West Roxbury was annexed to the City of Boston in 1874, the
trustees of the Eliot School terminated their connection to the high
school and decided to move back to 24 Eliot St.

In the 1870s and
1880s, the Eliot School began its “manual training” era. Gradually,
classes like drawing, painting, sewing and cooking were added.
Stenography and typewriting were offered in 1887. The school provided
classes for public school students in the area.

A book about the
school published by the trustees in 1905 says the school’s purpose was
to “satisfy that instinctive desire of human beings to create.” For an
annual membership fee of $1, according to the book, adults and children
could study woodworking, mechanical drawing, wood carving and sewing.

Eliot School Today
The Eliot School continues to change today. Jennifer Ellwood was hired
as director in July, 2004 to lead the school through two major
initiatives: expanding course offerings and managing a capital
campaign. The board of directors plans to hold community meetings and
focus group this year to gather input into planning.

The school
is doing fund-raising to restore the 1832 building and make it
wheelchair accessible. According to Ellwood, plans call for replacing
the chain link fence with a wrought iron one and landscaping the
walkway to the building. In the interior, plaster and paint need
attention, and bathrooms need to be updated.

Beth Israel
Deaconess Hospital Chief Executive Officer Paul Levy, who is lauded for
turning around the finances at that institution, is a big fan of the
Eliot School. He has been taking a woodworking class there for several
years. “It’s a marvelous place, collegiate and friendly,” he said in an
interview. “The teachers are great.”

Because he sees the
building as “a gem in the rough,” Levy has committed fund-raising
specialists at his institution to help the Eliot School devise a
capital campaign.

Beginning with the current winter 2005 term,
many new classes and teachers have been added with emphasis on fine
arts and drawing skills. Internationally known artists Bob Siegelman
and Dean Nimmer have joined the faculty. Enrollment for the fall term
was up 35 percent over the previous year.

For a catalog or more information about the Eliot School, see eliotschool.org or call 617-524-3313.

Sources
The Eliot School, 1676-1905, compiled from an address by Benj. P.
Williams in 1832 and by D. S. Smalley, master of the school, in 1886.

A Brief History of the Eliot School, by Charles Fox, Newsletter of the Eliot School, Vol. 1.